Movie review: Prisoners

I know I haven't been watching Peter Sarsgaard movies like you might expect, but I did watch this movie which starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman. I was debating on which order to list them in and decided to go alphabetically, which then meant I had to spend a few seconds figuring out if G comes before or after J. It comes before. Recently I've sort of gotten a bit into Jake Gyllenhaal in that I think he's a good actor and wouldn't mind seeing more of his filmography. He's not quite at the level of favorite actor for me though. 

Note: after writing this, I realized that there isn't really a lot of context in this review, so it might help to go look up the premise (but not the full plot) of the movie beforehand.

Anyways, on to the review. I don't really want to spoil anything because I think this movie is worth experiencing for yourself to find out what happens, and knowing beforehand would ruin it. I thought this was quite a movie and it hit all the right notes for me personally. There was a decent amount of violence interspersed here and there to keep things interesting, although it wasn't senseless violence (which I'm not really a fan of); it served to advance the plot/develop the characters. This movie was 2 and a half hours long, which is a bit on the longer side but it didn't feel slow at any point.  It was definitely one of those darker movies in terms of subject matter/things that happen in it, so it's not necessarily for everyone, but I happen to like that kind of thing. 

I thought that both Jake and Hugh did a good job in their roles in this movie. It took place in Pennsylvania, and at times, it seemed like Hugh's Australian accent was slipping through a little bit, although if you didn't know he was Australian beforehand you might not have noticed it. For some reason I feel like Jake should have a slightly deeper voice than he does, based on how he looks. Something about his face makes me think that his voice should be a little deeper than it actually is. Regardless, I thought that he talked nicely in this movie. 

I had sort of intended to maybe watch Jackie tonight instead, as part of getting more knowledgeable about the Kennedy family, but I ended up watching this because of the whole 'watching Peter Sarsgaard movies is such a commitment because I feel obligated to pay super close attention' thing. I don't regret watching this movie although now it seems like I should watch a really intense Peter Sarsgaard movie (Boys Don't Cry is what I have in mind; he plays a murderer) next that'll compare to this one, as opposed to something lighter and/or less critically acclaimed.